Wake Up Call
by Nightheart
Summary: 1-shot. After Aizen's betrayal, Momo Hinamori is left a broken shadow of what she once was. Renji knows that wallowing in misery won't help, so what will? A little Renji therapy... involving a pond and Zabimaru.


She'd been like this for weeks. _Weeks_!

She was a Lieutenant of the Court Guard Squads dammit, same as him. He understood that the betrayal of Aizen had broken her in unseen ways, and he could understand a certain amount of grief and misery over that but _this_... She hadn't left her squad head-quarters, hell, she wouldn't even leave her _quarters_! She had her food brought to her an left outside of her door. Her Squad was in shambles; there were transfers out of it left and right, no-one was assigning missions, her seated officers were all too busy worrying over her or concentrating on licking their own wounds to keep discipline; the unfinished work was piling up, and nobody was running herd on these people. Hinamori wouldn't see anyone, not even him and Kira, not even Toshiro Hitsugaya, who had been friends with her since she'd been a child. If Rukia had ever tried treating him like that he'd have definitely done something about it by now, Kuchiki or not!

:_I understand a little bout of self pity, especially after the fact, but a mope that lasts fer this long is just ri-frickin'-diculous_!:

Which was why he was going to do something about it.

Renji wasn't exactly Captain Congeniality, but if there was one thing he could say about himself, it was that he _knew _people. It was an instinct for him, birthed and honed on the mean streets of Hangdog where a single slip in judgment could mean the difference between life and death. The ability to be able to read a person, for a gang-leader, was a necessary survival skill. It also helped if your band of brothers liked you well enough to want to follow you. People skills. His instincts were telling him that this... this pathetic _wallowing _in misery and self-pity was not healthy. Not for her and not for her squad. What she needed wasn't people patting her on the head or the shoulder, telling her how sorry they were for her and how terrible it all was that Aizen had betrayed her... what she _really _needed was a good swift kick in the ass. But she was Momo Hinamori.... poor, fragile, delicate, beloved Hinamori, Squad Princess and spoilt baby girl of the Fifth Squad. No-one was gonna lay a finger on her. Kira was too busy with his own pity party to pull her up out of hers, so it looked like it was up to Renji.

The sun was just peeking up over the horizon as Renji stomped into the squad headquarters of the Fifth Division. There wasn't a Soul Reaper to be seen, and that just wasn't _right_; at this hour there should have been Reapers setting up breakfast in the caf, and newbies being drilled in the yard or at the very,_very _least a small company of Reapers patrolling the streets nearby. There was no-one. One more sign of the breakdown and decay of this squad that was the result of Aizen's betrayal... but a good Vice Captain would have been able to slip in and hold things together. He'd heard that matters down in Third were not a whole lot better. But right then, he judged that Momo was the worse off of the two.

He _liked _the girl, he genuinely did, he always had, she was sweet and kind and caring. She'd always been ready with a smile when Renji was feeling particularly down or words of encouragement during the many-many times he failed to win a fight or master a technique. She'd always had this way of making him feel like maybe his goals were not so impossible and maybe he himself was not such a screw-up. She was a real lady, gentle and nurturing. She had flourished well under Aizen's care. Heck, even Renji himself had admired and looked up to the man as a sort of father figure... Renji conscientiously stuffed down the tangy taste of rage on the back of his tongue and the twinge in his heart, stuffed it down and savagely turned his thoughts aside. This wasn't about _him_, this was about Momo.

They were an unlikely set but somehow they worked. Kira was a blue-blood noble from a lesser house, a guy with all of the intelligence in the world and none of the self-confidence to use it. He could be a little neurotic at times and he was too often prone to obeying figures of authority rather than following the path he knew to be right, but even Renji had to admit that him and his sneaky Zanpakutou were real odds-eveners in a tough fight. Momo was sort of the group mommy, making sure they'd completed their assignments on time, coaching Renji through a tricky kido move (_all _of them seemed tricky to him) or encouraging Kira to try his best. No-one would ever call her weak (to her face) but even Renji had to admit that she did sort of see things through rose-colored glasses, and it was that very naivete that had probably prompted Aizen to--

Renji wrenched his thoughts away again from trying to go back to dwell on the words that Aizen had said to him before he'd left.

:_Geeze, lookit this place_,: Renji grumbled to himself.

It wasn't _quite _a mess, but it was getting there. What few Reapers that where up at that time in the morning were all lounging about. Renji had already been up for hours, seeing to his own training regimen before dawn then heading to the headquarters to train for an hour or two with the new recruits, drilling them in the basics. The few Reapers lounging about looked over at him incuriously, they didn't challenge him or even _try _to inquire what he was doing there as he stormed over to the Offiers complex. This sort of laxness in discipline would never have been allowed to happen in his own squad, heck, it wouldn't have happened in _Eleventh_, for Madarame and Lieutenent Yachiru would have kicked the crap out of anyone caught moping about instead of training themselves to be stronger. Renji was temped to eat a few of them for breakfast as a lesson to the _rest _of those pathetic slackers, but first, he had to rescue thier Vice Captain from herself. Priorities, after all.

Renji's sense of insult grew the closer he got to the Squad's main offices. He should never have made it this far without someone challenging him, it didn't matter if he was well-known as Momo's friend. This was _especially _true after Aizen's betrayal, they should have been _twice _as diligent in checking him to make sure he wasn't a threat to their Vice-Captain. He could have been sent to kill her for all they knew and they weren't doing a damn thing to stop him, even though he was wearing his Zanpakutou out in plain view against regulations!

:_I was gonna go easy on her_,: he thought, his temper beginning to seethe at the lack of respect shown to thier Squad and more importantly to it's Lieutenant.

The break down in discipline stemmed from the top, if _she _didn't stand up and show them that they might be down but they were not out, then her whole squad was gonna go to crap. Momo was his good friend, he wasn't gonna let her do that to herself! He wasn't gonna let everyone else shake their heads in pity at as thye think inwardly that it was such a shame... Most importantly, he was not going to watch her give up on herself. He'd do whatever he had to get her back on her feet and back in the game.

:_I was gonna go easy on her, but after seeing this mess, that's partly her fault, I'm thinkin' that the **last **thing she needs is more sympathy_.:

Pity only encouraged self-pity in his book.

So instead of knocking politely when he reached the door to the living quarters of the Vice-Captain as he had originally _planned _on doing, Renji lifted a be-sandaled foot and kicked the door in. He stomped through her outer sitting room and bashed in the door to her bedroom, where she lay sleeping in her futon. Her quarters, usually so impeccably neat, were in disarray, there were food bowls left out and clothes in a rumple. There were signs of her not having even left her _bed _for days in evidence.

"Renji? Wha--?" she demanded sleepily, rubbing and eye and starting to sit up.

Renji just blurred over, knelt next to her bed, grabbed her around her tiny waist and hoisted her up onto his shoulder. Her noise of inquiry became a cry of surprise and alarm as he quickly stood up, grabbing her nearby Zanpakutou as he went, and flash-stepped over to the window, stepping out onto the ledge and dropping down.

Going easy on her wasn't helping anyone, so Momo Hinamori was about to get a rude awakening, Renji style.

"Renji! What are you doing! Hey!" she shouted. "Renjiiii! Put me down!"

She yelled her protestations at the top of her lungs and drummed on his back with her tiny little fists, even as he flashed quickly out of Fifth Squad headquarters. His frown transformed to a dark scowl as a few heads of Seated Officers poked out of their quarters to see what the commotion was about, saw Renji with thier Vice-Captain slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and then quietly withdrew back into their rooms. They were all gonna _get _it later.

"Renji! Put me down I said! Hey! You can't do this to me!" she kept yelling, literally kicking and screaming.

"Oh yeah? Watcha gonna do 'bout it, little girl?" he snarled back at her, smacking her on the rumpus for emphasis.

He'd have to find someplace private, where they weren't likely to be disturbed, and more importantly, Momo's pride and reputation had already taken enough of a beating, what with everyone going "oh poor Momo!" all the time. If people saw what _he _was about to do, she'd probably never live it down.

:_Kuchiki Manor's got enough of those things, I'm sure the Captain won't mind me borrowing one of 'em, for the good of the Fifth Squad_,: he thought.

Even if Kuchiki had a problem with it, Renji would just take his lumps. Because he was doing this for Momo.

"Lemme go, this isn't funny!" she continued to struggle ineffectually on the top of his shoulder as he flash-stepped down the mostly deserted corridors of the Seireitei, intent on his destination.

The few people that did see him flash by, wisely decided that it was best to leave the matter alone; "don't mess with Abarai" was the general rumor about. "He's trained with Zaraki and he's _crazy_!"

Renji took a deep breath to harden himself for what he was gonna have to do, some of it might be fun, but some of it... might not be pretty.

No more mister nice Soul Reaper.

"Hey!" she yelled, still squirming atop his shoulder. "You put me down, Renji Abarai! I'm telling your captain! This is mistreatment of an officer! Red-haired Monkey! Help!"

The string of protests continued, _loudly_, all the way to the Kuchiki Estate, where Renji promptly flashed up over a wall and into an inner courtyard somewhere, then started darting about the various gardens and yards in the spacious manor-complex, looking for a good spot. He picked the first private garden he came across with a suitable-sized pond in it.

"Renji!" Momo screamed at him even as he shifted his grip.

He flipped her down from his shoulder and held her up off the ground, facing face-down in mid-air, by the scruff of her night-gown with his other hand bunched around her knees. She struggled and kicked but stood no more chance against his superior strength right then than a six-month old kitten did. He gave one or two preliminary little swings, just to build up some momentum, he didn't want her being injured after all. She squawked and shrieked in protest at his treatment.

"I mean it! You had darned well better put me down, right this instant Renji Abarai!"

He'd have been lying if he'd said that he wasn't having a little bit of fun with this. A grin stretched across his face a mile wide.

"Anything you say princess," he assured her as she swung her back like a sack of laundry. He could almost see the realization dawning on her face.

She got out another squall of protest before he let fly, chucking her into the pond, face first. There was a beautiful splash.

& & &

:_What in the world_?:

Byakuya Kuchiki was a very organized man, his domain was run with meticulous, almost clock-work-like efficiency. Everything in its place and a place for everything. Even with the recent upheavals, the chaos of recent days had yet to cause anything more than the most minor of hiccups in his neat, tidy, well-organized life. It would have therefore been redundant to say that the Head of the noble Kuchiki Clan was unaccustomed to surprises. Certainly, he was unaccustomed to the outside world intruding upon the peace and serenity of his home.

He was accustomed to being woken by the gentle, deferential proddings of his room-servant or sometimes to the gentle twitter of birdsong, but he had never _once, _in all of his years, been woken to the sound of someone, clearly in distress, being man-handled and screaming in protest. He didn't recognize the voice right away, seeing as he had never heard it raised above a modest tone before, but he caught the Reiatsu well enough. Why was his young Lieutenant intruding upon his captain's home without permission? More importantly, why was he dragging a woman, who by all accounts was one of his very best comrades, against her will to disrupt the sanctity of the Kuchiki House's inner gardens at such an hour? The answer to these questions were not made any clearer by the ensuing sound of an offended scream and then a large splash.

Had his Lieutenant just thrown Momo Hinamori into the Kuchiki koi pond?

Unable to contain his curiosity, and naturally, ready to assist the unfortunate lady escape the madness of his lieutenant, who seemed to have taken all leave of his senses, Kuchiki rose and pulled on his outer robe and pushed the screen leading into the garden to one side. Down the hall, he saw that his sister Rukia, recently recovered from her ordeal, had weakly done the same and was staring in gape-mouthed shock at the scene before them.

There they were, in the middle of the garden, Renji standing at the edge of the stone-lined pond with his feet braced shoulder-length apart, an extra zanpaktou in one hand, twirling someone's lieutenants badge around one finger, while the child-like face of Hinamori bobbed up from the center of the miniature lake, spluttering in indignation. As soon as the young woman gained some equilibrium, Renji promptly chucked her sword right at her head. She gave another awkward splutter of insult warming to outrage even as she caught it.

Renji drew his own Zanpakutou and slipped the little armband over it. He held both before him in a way that signaled that he was going to slice the armband in half. In the Soul Society, when a Captain did that, it was a mark of dishonor, a way to show that the person not only was not _suitable _to be a Lieutenant, but that they should never be given authority over anyone _ever_. That they were truly unworthy of their position.

"Renji!" Hinamori shouted, clearly taken aback and insulted. "What do you think you're doing? How _dare _you take my Lieutenants badge?"

"What? This?" Renji inquired, his tone casual, but Byakuya Kuchiki could hear the tone of challenge underneath it. "Oh, I'm sorry, was this _yours_?"

And now his tone was mocking.

"Gee, y'know, I honestly couldn't tell. You see, I always thought that these badges marked out someone who is supposed to lead the Squad in the absence of their Captain. Must be my mistake, what with Fifth being so _well run_ by it's Lieutenant now days."

Byakuya Kuchiki tried not to blink in shock. His lieutenant was reprimanding the fragile flower of the Fifth Division? He had seen Renji himself cosset the woman, treating her like a much beloved and spoiled little sister.

"Excuse me?!" she demanded in outrage, still trying to find her feet on the slick floor of the shallow pond. "Did you just imply that I'm lacking in skill?!"

"Now now Hinamori," Renji drawled. "You should know better than that by now, I never _imply _things when i can jus' tell ya straight out that yer actin' like a whiny little pussy."

Hinamori stared at him mouth working silently in shock.

"Y-You... you take that back!" she demanded. "Take those words back right now, Renji Abarai!"

"Come over here and make me," he challenged. "Or are you too much of a pampered little princess ta soil yer delicate little hands? Oh that's right, you've never had to before now have you, little girl... you've just had everything handed to ya."

"Th-that's not true..." Hinamori gasped, her voice shaking and her face contorted with pain. "That's not _true_."

Kuchiki thought that he might have to intervene before things got ugly. He understood what Renji's objective was, but Byakuya knew from experience that not all women were made of stern stuff, like Rukia was. Some were just more delicate than others and required a defter touch than the cack-handeness that so characterized his brash young lieutenant. Still, it could be that this might be just what Hinamori needed, heavens knew that she'd been getting more than enough sympathy from every corner.

"Bull_shit_ it ain't true," Renji snapped back at her. "All along you've had people patting you on the head, tellin' you what a good girl you are. Not to trouble yourself with all the work, other people can do the hard stuff, you just go right on bein' yer perfect self because you _deserve _it."

Kuchiki thought that Renji might have gone too far with that one and he almost started forward to call off his rabid dog Lieutenant when Hinamori started to weep, fat tears welled up in her large eyes and streamed perfectly down her cheeks. Not a lot of women could cry beautifully, most got red and splotchy or their faces twisted in unattractive ways, but Hinamori maintained a composure even in grief that reminded one of statues of saints. Renji, in reply to this, scooped up a handful of mud and threw it unerringly at her face.

"Oh, now yer gonna cry about it?" he questioned. "Something don't go your way and your answer is ta jus' sit there and bawl like a baby?"

Hinamori just stared at him frozen and shaking, as if she honestly didn't know what to say or do next. Shock was good, it was better than that useless self-pity she'd been indulging in.

"An' why the hell are ya still in the water goddammit?! Get on your feet!" Renji roared at her.

Kuchiki heard the desperation underlying the harsh anger in Renji's tone. His young Lieutenant must have known that the woman was wallowing in self-pity, then he also knew instinctively that if something wasn't done to stop it, then she was going to _lose _herself to it. She was still there, on her knees in the shallow water of the koi pond, tears falling as she refused to rise up to her feet. Renji made a frustrated noise and once again held the badge that marked the Fifth Squad Lieutenant's against the edge of his blade.

"If you don't climb outta there, I'm cuttin' the badge," Renji provoked. "I'll take over Fifth myself."

"You can't _do _that?!" Momo gasped, shocked and outraged.

"Oh yeah? What's stoppin' me? Certainly not _you_," Renji continued, mouthing off. "I might not be much, but Fifth would be better off with someone who'll at least _try _for them rather than a weakling who knuckles under and cries at the first sign of trouble. So Aizen's an ass-hat, big deal, that don't mean ya turn yer back on yer squadmates. You're a goddamn lieutenant Momo, so fuckin' act like one!"

"Oh that's easy for you to say!" Momo snapped back at him, for the very first time showing some spirit. "You weren't betrayed by him. You didn't spend every day of the last forty years worshiping a man that never _existed_!"

She was screaming but she was also crying, big great hiccuping sobs that wracked her tiny body.

"I might not be devastated by it Momo, but you know that I looked up to Aizen too!" Renji yelled back. "But that don't matter. Pull yerself t'gether dammit. You ain't alone. Kira an' me, we're _both _still here same as you are, we got pieces ta pick up too. We're top-ranked officers, both of us, whether we deserve it or not, whether we're worthy of it or not, is our job, our _duty_, to step in. That means you don't fuckin' got time fer this shit! Yer squad's goin' ta crap, Momo, an' yer just standin' there letting it. If yer gonna give up on yerself an' everyone else around you go ahead. Go drown in your own misery."

Renji threw the badge at her head and held Zabimaru up in front of him.

"Roar!" he commanded, opening out the shikai.

Rukia tried to get up but her older brother flashed over to her side to keep her in bed.

"Let them be," he advised her. "Crude though he might be, Lieutenant Abarai is not incorrect. It is easy for fragile spirits to loose their way and become mired in self-pity, especially when everyone else around them feels sorry for them too."

"But... Elder Brother..." Rukia said hesitantly. "Renji doesn't pull his blade out unless he intends to use it."

"I am aware of this. If it becomes necessary, I may intercede before he kills her."

The two siblings by adoption silently watched the drama unfolding before them.

"If you've already given up, then you have no place here," Renji said darkly. "As your friend and your comrade, I will end your pain. I'll put you out of your misery... Myself!"

With that he snapped the chain-blade out to full extension and whipped it around and down at her, making the water right next to her side explode upwards from the impact. Momo shrieked and dodged to the right while Renji brought the blade up and coiled it back into its original resting position.

"Renji! What are you doing?! Have you lost your mind?!" she screamed at him in surprise.

"I'm doing you a favor," Renji replied. "If yer gonna roll over an' give up on yerself then there's no purpose to your continuing to exist. I'm sure everybody would agree with me that it'd be merciful fer me ta jus' put you outta yer misery."

He snapped the chain-blade out again, whipping it through the air aimed directly at her head. Momo brought Tobiume up and blocked the attack with the sheath, stumbling and falling back on her butt in the water as she did so. She looked at Renji with a shocked disbelief.

"How can you say that?!" she demanded, hurt.

"Cuz I call 'em like I see 'em," Renji said with a shrug. "And right now I see you just sitting there, up ta yer neck in water, timid as a rabbit, not even tryin' ta fight back. If yer a warrior, if yer a woman worth anything at _all_, then you stand up and you fight for what you believe in. You don't just give up because it's easier! Show some _spine _dammit!"

It sounded like a demand, but Kuchiki could hear the note of entreaty in his young lieutenants voice, and he was suddenly taken back a lifetime in time, to a time and place when he had held on the cool and thin hand of a woman who had become the sole center of his world. He had wanted to entreat her, to beg her to stay with him but his Kuchiki pride had not let him stoop to that level, all he had offered her was the distant comfort of the bereaved. She had already given up and there was no way he could have reached her, made her cling to her life, the life he valued and cherished above all things.

"I..." tears welled up in her eyes still, rolling down her cheeks as she looked up at him helplessly. "Renji, I can't! I _can't_!"

"Don't tell me you can't," he snapped back, pulling Zabimaru around and sending it flying back at her. "If yer still alive, then you can! Come on Momo, stand up. Stand your ground and fight!"

Momo shrieked again and tried to scramble out of the way, the serrations of the blade whipped not even an inch from her face, taking a stray lock of hair with it. Renji moved the blade with precision, whipping it around and up to send it crashing down into the surface of the water on her other side, herding her this way and that.

Kuchiki wondered if Momo heard his anxious whispered entreaty of, "C'mon, c'mon get up" as he pulled his blade back to its resting position.

"Why are you doing this to me?!" Momo demanded in a panic, scrabbling through the water on hands and knees.

"I got a better question for ya," Renji countered. "Why are you turning your back on your comrades? On your squad? On your friends? The Momo Hinamori I know is loyal, and she's not a quitter. Why the hell won't you stand up, stand up and fight me dammit!"

Momo shook her head, still trying to get away. Renji flashed to another area of the edge of the pond and attacked with his blade. To the Kuchiki's expert eye he could easily see that his lieutenants movements were without intent to kill, or even seriously wound, he was toying with her, scaring her, herding her, but he didn't want to hurt her unless he had to.

This time though, this time when Renji swung Zabimaru around to go after her other side, Hinamori rose to her knees and blocked the sword with her sheath again, but this time, this time she pushed the blade away. She pushed back. Captain Byakuya Kuchiki could clearly see hope rising in his young lieutenant by the lift of his shoulders. Even so, Renji did not let up his attack, so far as the Lieutenant was concerned he finally had the girl right where he wanted her.

Byakuya Kuchiki, and by the sound of her gasp of surprise and dismay his sister Rukia, noted something that his shortsighted and dense lieutenant had forgotten to take into account when he had kidnapped the young woman from her rooms wearing nothing but a dressing gown. Renji would doubtless _not _have noticed the detail as of yet, engaged as he was in the heat of a battle, but after the battle was over... it would be grounds for some embarrasment.

"Yer not dead yet, an' you've got a lot ta prove to an asshole that says it'd be more merciful fer you ta die than ta face a life without him. You wanna prove him _right_?!"

"N-no," she said tremulously, scared and uncertain.

"That don't sound too convincin' Momo, I said do you want to prove Aizen right about you?"

"No!" she said, this time with conviction, rising up from the water and putting her sword in front of her.

"Then prove him wrong," Renji ordered. "Don't hang your head in defeat, don't back down, don't let them pity you. Stand your ground and fight!"

"I..." Hinamori slowly rose more firmly to her feet, her back and shoulders still hunched, her eyes and face still haunted, but there was a glimmer there.

Renji swung Zabimaru around for another pass, aimed to bring the blade in close this time and Hinamori drew the unshikaied blade of her zanpakutou and met the edge with a swing of her own. Their blades clashed hard with the ring of steel on steel.

"Who are you?!" Renji demanded. Swinging again.

"M-Momo Hinamori," she gasped out pulling back and swinging her own blade to meet Renji's fierce attack. Her movements were still hesitant, her face still frightened.

"Who?" Renji demanded again.

"I am Momo Hinamori," she said again, with a little more conviction.

"I'm not convinced," Renji said, launching the blade at her again. "Who are you?"

"I am Fifth Squad Lieutenant, Momo Hinamori!"

Her tone had lost all of its hesitancy, she was suddenly reborn, alive and fiercely determined, a phoenix rising from the spark where their blades met. Her posture straightened, her shoulders drew back and her spine untucked. She held her sword properly before her, life glimmering again in her previously hopeless eyes.

"Are you dead?" Renji shouted at her.

Zabimaru spiraled around her, like a snake trying to wrap its prey in its coils. Momo dodged out of the way and pushed the blade to one side, negating the attempt.

"No."

"Have you lost?" Renji demanded next, attacking once more, she blocked his attacks, advancing towards him slowly.

"No!" Momo shouted.

"What are you gonna do?"

I w- I won't give up," Momo said tearily, but with real detirmination in her voice. Her sword clashed against his time and again as she advanced steadily.

"I will stand my ground and be strong." Another ringing strike and she was only knee deep in the water and almost at him.

"I know one day, I will conquer it... and I... I will have done it without relying on false strength."

Renji flicked his blade back into blade-rest position and sheathed it at his waist. He reached out and gently put a finger under her chin, lifting it. Maybe it was coincidence that the sun appeared up over the top of the courtyard at that moment. Renji's voice was uncharacteristically solemn as he said

"Raise your head and look forward."

The remnants of tears dried on her face as she nodded once, firmly, accepting the wordless pact between them.

The moment was broken when a morning breeze rustled quietly through the courtyard, chilling the soaked form of Momo Hinamori.

:_Here it comes, wait for it_...:

Sometimes watching the numerous blunders that his young assistant got himself into was the closest thing to real entertainment that Byakuya Kuchiki got.

Sure enough, Momo Hinamori looked down, suddenly becoming conscious of her state of under-dress. The nightgown she wore to bed was white and silk, and right then she might as well have been _stark naked_, for the water had soaked it and not only made it cling to her precisely like a second skin but had rendered it practically transparent. He watched with real inner amusement the realization dawning on both of their faces, Hinamori's face went from surprised dismay to righteous wrath and Renji's face became a mask of "oh, shit..."

:_And it goes from drama to farce_.:

"Now now, Momo," he said backing up quickly and raising his hands placatingly at her. "Don't be mad, I honestly didn't plan for you to be, ah, um... out of uniform."

Her fists clenched tight around her blade. Her eyes shone less with determination now and more with possible murderous intent.

"Renji," Rukia muttered under her breath, inelegantly face-palming and shaking her head. "You idiot."

"Succinctly put," was all Kuchiki said.

Still, neither of them were moving to help him extricate himself from the situation, after all, one simply couldn't _buy _entertainment like this.

"That's no excuse!" Momo snapped at him.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry..." Renji quickly whipped off his own top and offered it to her. "C'mon Hinamori, you know _thinkin' _ain't my strong point!"

:_Well, score one for honesty, one supposes_,: Byakuya Kuchiki remarked to himself.

"Neither will breathing be ina minnit!" Momo snarled at him, taking his extended arm in a lightning-quick movement and flashing behind him to twist it behind his back , shoving him forward a few feet until Renji was thigh-deep in the water, then pulling up on the arm to duck him under.

Renji took his due punishment with unnecessary noise as she drubbed him under again and again. Each time he came up for air he shouted his apologies and entreated her to let him go. Byakuya thought it interesting that, though Hinamori clearly had him at a disadvantage, Renji remained standing where he was, letting her push him under as punishment rather than trying to escape. He was grinning fit to split his face wide open, and Kuchiki didn't think it had anything to do with his being in the water with a partially nude young woman either... Renji was clearly and plainly relieved. Relieved to have her back, relieved to see some spirit in her for the first time in weeks.

After a long minute of letting Hinamori take her well-deserved revenge on him, Renji decided he'd had enough of playing bathtoy and broke the hold, sloshing his way back out of the water wearing nothing but his uniform pants and socks. As a final gesture of reprisal, Hinamori grabbed one of the straw sandals floating on the surface of the water and chucked it unerringly at the back of his head. Rukia laughed.

"Haha Renji, serves you right!" Rukia called.

Newly conscious of an audience Momo renewed her heated glare at Renji and primly tucked closed the folds of her borrowed top. Renji's uniform top was enormous on her, the bottom hem of it hung down past her knees, still she mustered the tattered remains of her dignity about her and sloshed very properly out of the water. Renji, at least had the grace to look embarrassed.

Embarrassment, however, was not nearly enough for breaking the serenity and security of the Kuchiki household, however amusing it might have been. The Kuchiki raised his head slightly and gave Renji one of his Looks. The reaction was gratifyingly immediate. Renji promptly straightened then bowed deeply, properly showing the top of his head.

"My apologies Captain!" he said hurriedly.

That was better.

"Might one inquire of his errant and dismayingly unobservant Lieutenant just _precisely _what that subordinate officer was thinking when he chose to, by all appearences, _kidnap _another ranked member of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads and, upon absconding with the young woman, toss her in his Captains prize fishpond? On his private estate?"

"I apologize for my rudeness captain!" Renji replied hurriedly.

"That should go without saying," Kuchiki prompted.

"Part of it was my fault!" Momo burst out in distress.

Byakuya Kuchiki suppressed his annoyance at being interrupted from his favorite pastime, that was, instructing his lieutenant in his many deficiencies. Still, he supposed that, given the young woman's personality and temperament, the interruption was not entirely unexpected.

"Renji's right," she said sorrowfully. "I haven't been there for my squad the way I should be. Everyone else feels sorry for me, even Kira does. Renji just didn't know any other way of making me see the truth."

"An' I needed some place real private where people wouldn't go gossipin' about her any more than they already are, I was tryin' t' save Momo's pride a little bit. I'll take whatever punishment ya see fit."

That too went without saying, however, Kuchiki did grant the boy a small modicum of respect for at least owning up to his fault immediately, not making excuses and not trying to get out of it.

"Boy are you ever in for it," Rukia said, her tone a little relishing. Renji made a face at her like a little kid, and the Kuchiki training wasn't quite ingrained enough to prevent the apparently reflex action of Rukia making one right back.

"Come on Miss Hinamori," Rukia said beckoning to the young woman, wet and shivering in Renji's equally soaked uniform top. "Let's get you dried off, you can borrow some of my clothes to wear, we look about the same size."

Momo tried to protest a bit but Rukia wasn't much interested in hearing it. That left him alone in the courtyard with his young lieutenant. Renji had drawn himself up, dripping with water (if not with dignity) and was clearly waiting for the worst.

"You should be more mindful of appearances Lieutenant," Kuchiki began, carefully hiding his amusement. "You are quite out of uniform. That sort of thing might be considered the norm in Eleventh, but in Sixth I expect a certain level of dignity and refinement, of care given to ones person and personal grooming habits. In addition, Your Captain would also point out that, while yourself and Lieutenant Hinamori might in fact be friends, it is unbefitting and unbecoming to the dignity of your rank and station that you should be seen in public acting in such an..."

He paused to consider his words. After all, what precisely did one say to describe one Lieutenant busting in on another and carrying her off, in her nightgown no less, like some viking captive?

"In such a peculiar fashion," Captain Kuchiki at last settled upon.

From there he proceeded to hit the usual high points, Renji should act with greater dignity as befitted his station, that greater forethought and planning would be a skill he should spend more time cultivating, and that Renji would also benefit from longer periods of meditation to reflect upon his plans before enacting them... meditation, and perhaps a mention of them to his Captain to ensure that all official protocols with regard to that action were met. Renji took the lecture with grace if not with dignity, that huge beaming smile stretching across his face would normally have been taken for a sign of disrespect but in this case Kuchiki was willing to let it slide considering the circumstances. He had a feeling that he could have ordered the boy to clean out the Kuchiki stables and he would have been about the duties happily, or if not happily, he would have done so with a minimum of protest. As it was, Kuchiki had to assign some sort of punishment, if only to send a message that such behavior, no matter how effective and well-intentioned, was simply not acceptable. Instead, he assigned Renji to do payroll for that week. Renji hated payroll. So did his Captain.

"Yessir," Renji said humbly, still smiling happily. He took the punishment with good grace and Kuchiki understood that, while his Lieutenant might not be happy with onerous task, he wasn't going to complain about it either.

Kuchiki would have slit open his own stomach rather than admit it out loud, but he saw the makings of a good man in this one. Sure he was a little unorthodox, and he had dared to bare his teeth to his own Captain, but if one looked past his street urchin accent and his unusual markings, the young man was diligent, hardworking, loyal, and honest as the day was long.

"Is that all sir?" Renji questioned, coming up from his bow.

Byakuya Kuchiki nodded his dismissal and his soaked young lieutenant began to slosh his way across the yard, making for the exit.

"Oh, and Lieutenant?" Kuchiki called in that quiet yet carrying voice, just as Renji was about to leave.

"Yessir?" Abarai questioned, pausing and looking back, partly in fear that his notoriously strict Captain had found something else for him to do no doubt.

"While your methods were unorthodox, they were nonetheless effective. Well done."

Renji blinked at him blankly for a moment in surprise, and wordlessly bowed out of the courtyard. He caught up with Momo and ruffled her hair, saying something that he didn't quite catch on thier way out. Momo replied back and the two of them laughed about something. Rukia emerged from her own quarters and looked on after the two departing figures with a look of barely concealed wistfulness on her face.

"Do you think that they will be okay, brother?" she asked softly.

"It is my understanding that they have been friends for a very long time, such relationships do not fade in importance so easily."

:_Unfortunately,: _he added silently to himself, thinking of Abarai's very inconvenient attachment to his adopted younger sister.

"Lieutenant Abarai will doubtless find a way to aid his friends in pulling through their own difficulties."

Rukia nodded at that, still looking longingly at the place that the two lieutenants had left from. Kuchiki foresaw interesting times ahead, he supposed he should count himself lucky that Abarai was such a straightforward type, he was concentrating so heavily on growing strong enough to defeat Kuchiki openly in order to be allowed to stand next to the young adopted Kuchiki that it simply had not occurred to him to attempt to sneak her out from under him. A good thing too, Byakuya Kuchiki could like a man with honest intents, he would not have tolerated the presence of a thief. That, and having his young lieutenant grow ever stronger was of use to his squad, himself, and the Seireitei all in one. With what looked to be interesting days ahead, they were going to need all the strong fighters they could get.

:Now thanks to Renji, that's at least one more back in the game.:

He imagined that it would not be very long at all before Abarai settled up with Kira Izuru.

:Well done indeed Lieutenant.:

Renji Abarai was quite the dark horse.

* * *

**A fun 1-shot just because I had this scene in my head and it was too much fun not to write it. Not enough fics out there with Momo and Renji (and Kira) as review.  
**

**So, on to business I suppose. The fic I told you about last time will start going up pretty soon. I tallied the votes for the titles and "Chasing Shadows" won it. It has my unusual take on Renji's tattoos, Zabimaru has a surprise for his wielder, Renji must get around to mastering kido, there's a new enemy, and eventually a new setting. Oh, and did I mention... well, no never mind, you can find out for yourself. I'm looking forward to posting it, I hope you're looking forward to reading it. Action, adventure, Renji kicking-ass and excellent characterization await you in Chasing Shadows. Chapter One goes up tomorrow so look for it please!**

**Summary: Aizen has lost the battle but the war is far from over, in a lull after the major battle with the former Captain of Fifth, (during which, Gin Ichimaru has been taken captive and held for trial and execution in the tower) Renji must come to terms with the loss of the affections of the woman he loves to another. In the middle of this he becomes aware of a possible new enemy stalking the streets of the Rukongai, seemingly targeting young children with Spirit Powers. Investigation into the strange disappearances brings only disaster upon him as the mysterious enemy, called only The Shadows, prevents him from returning to the Seireitei. Renji must hunt down the Shadow across lands and places that no person, Mortal or Soul Reaper has ventured into. Accompanied by a detirmined Mortal, who will not take "stay where you belong" for an answer, Renji must unlock the secrets of the new enemies and his own new power before Aizen makes his next move or there might not be a Seireitei for Renji to return to.  
**


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